Kansas shaky early, strong late to beat Texas Tech

Jan 16, 2010 - 10:23 PM
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer

LAWRENCE, Kan.(AP) -- Marcus Morris has heard the same things
almost since the day he arrived at Kansas: you're too soft,
you're not competing, you're not playing hard enough. It wasn't
just the coaches, either. Teammates, even friends and family
were getting on him and his twin brother, Markieff.

More and more, it seems he's listening.

Active and aggressive for the second straight game, Morris had
20 points and eight rebounds to help No. 3 Kansas overcome a
sloppy start for an 89-63 rout of Texas Tech on Saturday.

"They said I wasn't playing hard, I wasn't competing," said
Morris, who had five offensive rebounds. "I made it my goal to
come out and play as hard as I can."

Kansas (16-1, 2-0 Big 12) wasn't sharp at the start of its
conference home opener, flinging passes and airballs all over
the building. The Jayhawks straightened out just before
halftime, working the ball inside to start the rout and extend
their nation-best home winning streak to 52 straight.

Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich had 14 points each and Kansas
dominated inside in the first half, outscoring the Red Raiders
16-4 in the paint to build a commanding lead.

Morris was the catalyst.

He went into a bit of a funk following an emotional hometown win
over Temple on Jan. 6, scoring a total of six points against
Cornell and Tennessee. Morris responded to the chiding by
coaches and teammates with 19 points against Nebraska and had 11
by halftime against Texas Tech.

"He has responded," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He has played
very, very well the past couple of games."

Texas Tech (12-5, 0-3) hadn't won at Allen Fieldhouse in 10
previous trips and never stood much of a chance at ending the
futility.

The Red Raiders, who lost by 58 points here two years ago,
trailed by 24 after an abysmal offensive first half and never
recovered to open conference play with three straight losses for
the first time since an 0-9 start in 1999-2000.

John Roberson was the only Texas Tech player in double figures
with 16 points and leading scorer Mike Singletary (15.4) went
scoreless, took just four shots and had four turnovers with no
assists.

"They're at a different level than us and really I think they're
probably at a different level than most teams in this league,"
Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said. "Every once in a while special
teams come along."

The Red Raiders labored against the Jayhawks' pressure,
struggling to complete passes, much less find shots. Texas Tech
shot 5 of 24 in the first half, hitting one field goal during
one 12-minute span, and many of its 14 turnovers came on passes
that had no chance of being completed.

"We kind of lost our minds and just didn't play well offensively
at all in the first half," Knight said.

Kansas wasn't much better, at least for a little while. The
Jayhawks were inefficient and sloppy, often following a Texas
Tech turnover with an even uglier one of their own.

An exasperated Self spent a good portion of the first half
trying to find someone who could throw the ball to the right
team, rotating in 10 players, including one four-man
substitution after point guard Tyshawn Taylor fired a pass to no
one that ricocheted off the scorer's table.

Kansas shook off its funk by going inside.

Markieff Morris got it started, scoring on a putback then a
post-up. Marcus Morris added a post move of his own and Thomas
Robinson followed with a basket on a hard drive.

The inside opened up the outside, leading to consecutive
3-pointers by Brady Morningstar and Henry that kicked off a
half-closing 13-2 run. Marcus Morris capped it with tomahawk
dunk on the break to put Kansas up 42-18.

The Jayhawks squelched any thought of a comeback, getting two
putbacks by Marcus Morris and a how'd-he-get-that-high rebound
slam by Henry over three players that made it 54-24.

The big cushion allowed Kansas to suffer through a string of
defensive breakdowns that led to a 12-0 run by Texas Tech that
cut the lead to 56-38 with 11 1/2 minutes left. The Red Raiders
never got closer.

"Our bigs are such good scorers, the guards have to help out on
them and that gives the shooters extra room," Morningstar said.
"Our bigs open up a lot of things for us."